[A multicenter study of emergencies in basic general hospitals in Catalonia]

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Healthcare Management
• Public Health

Background:

• Hospital emergency departments face increasing demand, necessitating an understanding of patient flow and case acuity.
• Effective resource allocation in emergency services requires accurate data on patient demographics, visit reasons, and outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the demand on hospital emergency services by analyzing a large cohort of patient visits.
• To characterize the types of emergencies, patient decision-making, and outcomes to inform service improvement.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 11,650 emergency visits over one week across 22 county hospitals.
• Diagnosis codification using a modified International Classification of Health Problems in Primary Care, Version 2 (ICHPPC-2).
• Data collection included patient age, day of the week, visit duration, mode of arrival, case justification, and disposition.

Main Results:

• The mean patient age was 30.6 years, with homogeneous distribution across days of the week.
• 85% of visits lasted under 2 hours, and 80% of patients self-referred.
• 22.4% of cases were deemed non-justified, 56.5% mild, and 17% severe emergencies; 75.9% were discharged, and 11.8% admitted.
• Predominant emergency categories included trauma (33.9%), respiratory diseases (11.8%), and ill-defined symptoms (9.3%).

Conclusions:

• A substantial proportion of emergency visits may be non-urgent or mild, suggesting opportunities for improved primary care access or urgent care alternatives.
• Understanding the characteristics of emergency service demand, particularly the high rate of self-referral and discharge, is crucial for efficient healthcare resource management.
• Further data collection is essential to refine the understanding and management of hospital emergency service utilization.